December 20, 2024

Pairing live support with accurate AI outputs

A live agent spends hours each week manually documenting routine interactions. Another combs through multiple knowledge bases to find the right solution, scrambling to piece it together while the customer waits on hold. A third types out the same response they’ve written dozens of times before. These repetitive tasks can be draining, leaving less time…

These companies are creating food out of thin air

October 21, 2024
Dried cells—it’s what’s for dinner. At least that’s what a new crop of biotech startups, armed with carbon-guzzling bacteria and plenty of capital, are hoping to convince us. Their claims sound too good to be true: They say they can make food out of thin air. But that’s exactly how certain soil-dwelling bacteria work. In…

The Download: food from thin air, and finding new materials

October 21, 2024
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. These companies are creating food out of thin air A new crop of biotech startups, armed with carbon-guzzling bacteria and plenty of capital, are promising something that seems too good to be true.…

Azalea: a science-fiction story

October 19, 2024
“This is simply a question of right and wrong.” “You can’t deny the costs, though. You keep saying that just one more year of taxes will solve— “We’re not solving—we’re mitigating!” “Then what’s the point?” The shrill back-and-forth fills the kitchen, where Xia is busy making breakfast, some kind of awful cricket-protein smoothie with kale.…